When You're Not Home
by KatBauer
Summary: She lifts her head and suddenly he's right there, blocking her way and looking at her with eyes filled with concern and something else, something that she can't quite decipher yet. "Promise me you won't do anything reckless." [Part 3 of the All I've Ever Needed series]


"What?" Skye asks when she feels Ward's eyes on her. She turns her head around trying to get a look at her back, and then looks down at her combat boots while her hands pat the front of her vest. "Did I miss a strap or something?"

He shakes his head. She's done this without him, who knows how many times by now, there's no way she could have possibly done it wrong, and she knows he's well aware of that.

"You're fine," he answers anyway, folding his arms across his chest as he leans against the doorframe, watching her every move.

"Then what's with the face," she comments distractedly, walking over to the table and grabbing her tablet. She taps a few times on the screen, checking the coordinates of the location she'll soon be heading to with the rest of the team, and after a few moments, she puts it down again.

She lifts her head and suddenly he's _right there_, blocking her way and looking at her with eyes filled with concern and something else, something that she can't quite decipher yet.

"Promise me you won't do anything reckless."

Skye arches her eyebrows at that. "Ward, please," she scoffs, trying to brush him off.

"_Skye._"

The way he says her name, pleading with her to just listen to him, even if it's just this once, is what finally has her caving in. "I'll be fine," she says, and then adds, "I promise."

Skye stands on her tiptoes, hands pressing against his chest for support, and kisses his cheek. She gives him what she hopes is a reassuring smile, and then she's out the door.

He holes up in Coulson's office that night, and remains glued to the big screen, monitoring the team through the tracking devices they carry with them, and even though everything goes according to plan, the fear he had started to feel in the pit of his stomach hours ago, seems to have settled there permanently.

Exhaustion finally catching up with him after a long, rather tense night, he passes out on the couch right after May confirms via comms that they are en route back to the base,

And it's not until he feels fingertips softly caressing his cheek and then running through his hair, that he wakes up, eyes squinting at the sunlight filtering through the windows.

He leans into her touch, because _he knows_ it's her, and sighs with relief when his eyes focus on Skye's face, hovering over his.

"Hey, there," she says with a bright smile.

"Welcome back," he murmurs as he slowly sits up, hands rubbing his face.

Skye's eyes dart to the screen and then back to Ward's tired expression. "You stayed up all night?"

"I was waiting for you," he says, and it's only then that he notices the small cut above her eyebrow. Before he realizes what he's doing, he reaches for her, cupping her face and pulling her closer to inspect the damage.

"You're hurt."

"You should've seen the other guy."

"Skye…"

"It's just a cut. I'm okay, Ward, I swear."

He forces himself to drop his hands then, and his fingertips begin to itch the moment he does, missing the feeling of her warm, soft skin and just _aching_ to touch her again.

"You should get that cleaned up," he says, getting up from the couch and slowly heading for the door.

"Ward?"

When he turns around to face her, words die on her lips under the intensity of his gaze, and so she recoils, shaking her head. "Nothing," she says, swallowing hard. "It's good to be home."

**xxx**

"So, you and Trip are going on an adventure, uh?"

"_Recon op_," Ward clarifies, and the slight exasperation she can hear in his voice brings back memories of long since gone days, making the corners of her lips quirk up in a tiny, almost fond smile.

A smile that quickly fades away and is replaced by something akin to cold dread that makes her stomach twist into knots as she watches him strap his Kevlar vest and holstering the ICER after double checking the cartridge.

And he, of course, notices the shift in her mood right away because he stops and looks at her, his forehead wrinkling as he studies her face. "I won't screw this up," he says quietly but with fierce determination.

"I trust you, Ward."

"Then what's wrong?" he asks now with confusion. "I passed all my psychological and physical evaluations weeks ago, and I'm ready. I _know_ I am."

But when she doesn't answer, and instead bites down on her bottom lip while eyeing his tac gear with apprehension, realization finally seems to dawn on him.

"You're worried," he says softly, and the way she stiffens at the simple statement and averts her gaze, is all the confirmation he needs. "I've done this a hundred times before, there's nothing to worry about."

"I know."

The unusual quietness in her voice is what finally has him walking across the room and closing the small distance between them. He stands in front of her, close enough that she now has to tilt her head up to meet his eyes, but still making sure not to invade her personal space.

Something that she doesn't seem to need, nor want.

"Be careful out there, okay?" she pleads taking a step forward, her fingers gripping his vest tightly and giving the material a soft tug for emphasis.

"I will," he promises, brushing his lips across the top of her head.

When he comes back hours later, slightly bruised but mostly just tired, and Skye is nowhere to be found, he doesn't give it much thought, figuring that she's probably busy somewhere.

He makes his way to his bunk, wanting nothing more than to take a hot shower and get a few hours of well deserved rest, and is shocked, to say the least, when he opens the door and finds Skye curled up in a tight ball, fast asleep in his bed.

He approaches her carefully, trying not to make a sound so as to not wake her, and gently scoops her up in his arms, a small smile forming on his lips when she stirs and loops her arms around his neck, pressing her nose against his skin.

"You came back in one piece," she mumbles sleepily.

"I promised you I would," he says as he pads down the long corridor, carrying her back to her bunk.

He sets her down on her bed and tucks a blanket around her body, pushing the hair out of her face with tenderness when she rolls onto her side and once again, curls into a ball.

"I know," she says with a yawn, eyes fluttering closed. "I believed you."

He opens his mouth to respond, but Skye is already asleep before he has the chance to say the words he so desperately wants to say.


End file.
